Securely anchor your mobile home

If you live in a mobile home, you probably already know the routine when a hurricane is headed your way: Pack up and head to safer quarters before the wind starts howling.

But hurricane preparations for mobile-home owners should begin long before the storm is on its way, with a regular checkup of the home's crucial anchoring system.

Inspect tie-downs annually

Building officials recommend that mobile home owners check their tie-downs -- the system of steel straps and anchors designed to keep the home firmly in place -- at least once a year. And there's no better time than before the annual hurricane season gets into full swing to make whatever repairs are needed.

You can do it yourself

There are plenty of companies out there willing to inspect and repair tie-downs for a fee.

Still, building officials say, most homeowners -- if they're willing to get on their hands and knees and aren't afraid to get a little dirty -- can do a pretty good preliminary inspection to see whether a home needs professional attention.

Learning the basics

First you'll need to know the basics of the three parts of the anchoring system:

First are the anchors, steel rods several feet long that screw into the ground. Only a few inches of the anchors should be above ground level; otherwise, they won't have the holding power they're designed for.

Second are the steel straps. They fasten around the frame of the mobile home and are attached to the anchors with adjustable bolts.

It's hard to guess how many straps your home should have, because the numbers have been set by engineers and changing state standards during the past 20 years.

But almost all homes should have at least eight, and sometimes more than 24, depending on the size and when the home was built and installed.

Last are the piers that the home sits on. They're usually made of concrete blocks stacked on a concrete pad, although a few homes may be on solid concrete piers, especially if they're elevated several feet above the ground.

How to spot potential problems

So, how do you spot potential problems? It's not difficult, but it may take a little work, and here's where the dirty knees come in.

First you have to be able to see beneath the home, an area which is often blocked off by decorative skirting.

If the skirting is lattice or aluminum mesh, you may be able to see or even reach through it with no problem.

But some homes have more substantial skirting, which could be stucco or concrete block. If so, the skirting should have an access door -- but some homes don't. In that case, whoever is doing the inspection, the homeowner or a professional, will need to make an opening.

Look for rust or cracks

Once you've got a clear view, look at the straps and anchors for signs of rust or cracks, especially where the straps are wound around the adjusting bolts. Newer models should have rollers to prevent breaks at those sharp turns.

Make sure the piers, which hold the home up, are straight and stable, and that the blocks aren't crooked or broken. If there are wooden shims or spacers between the piers and the home, make sure they're set firmly and not rotten or damaged.

Straps should be tight

The straps themselves shouldn't be loose. They should have some tension to keep the home from rocking and working loose in high winds.

If you can reach the straps, give them a tug to make sure they're tight.

Otherwise, poke at them with a long stick or board to make sure they're not loose.

The straps are galvanized to protect them from rust, but with high humidity, many eventually corrode. To help avoid rust, keep sprinklers from spraying the tie-downs.

And don't use fertilizer where it can get on the straps, because the salts in fertilizer speed rust.

What if you spot a problem?

If you find a problem, however, think twice before you try to fix things yourself, said John Warbington, Orange County building director.

It's difficult, and can even be dangerous, for amateurs to try major repairs to tie-downs.

"It probably would take a professional," Warbington said. "Retrofitting these anchors is pretty difficult."

Repairs can be expensive

Last year, Orange County officials, in partnership with the state of Florida, launched an innovative program to offer free inspections and repairs to low-income owners of mobile homes.

The 162 homes repaired so far cost an average of more than $1,900 each.

But the repairs cost a fraction of the potential damage that even a modest storm can do.

"It's not just hurricanes you need to think about," Warbington said.

"If your home's not anchored properly, you could have substantial damage in a high wind that wouldn't do any damage to a properly anchored home, " Warbington said.

And the results of the county's inspection program also give a hint of how many older mobile homes may be in need of repairs. Of the more than 700 homes 10 years or older that were inspected, 85 percent needed repairs.

All of which means you may not want to know how things look under your mobile home.

But if there are problems with your home's anchoring system, Warbington said, the time to find out is now, rather than when the wind starts to blow.